Company ordered to detail burned warehouse inventory

Oct. 26, 2017

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia regulators on Thursday ordered the Maryland company that owns a South Parkersburg warehouse that burned for days to disclose what materials were consumed by the flames and to spell out plans for disposing of the debris properly.

The Department of Environmental Protection told Intercontinental Export Import Inc. to immediately provide the inventory and submit plans within 10 days for complying with its environmental permits, including proof of proper disposal. The agency also ordered detailed inventories at other sites owned by associated companies in West Virginia and payment of a $60,622 penalty under a prior settlement that had been held in abeyance.

The 420,000-foot (130,000-meter) warehouse property where the fire broke out last week is owned by Columbia, Maryland-based Intercontinental, which says on its website that it buys and sells an array of recycled plastics worldwide. Company representative Somil Desai said Thursday that the business has been working on site with local officials and will continue. He declined immediate comment on the DEP order.

As the huge fire burned over the past week, more than 40 fire stations from Ohio and West Virginia responded. The main fire was put out Saturday though crews were clearing debris and extinguishing hot spots still at midweek.

Recent air-quality testing found that aside from visible soot particles, there were little or no detectable levels of other likely chemicals in the smoke, Wood County emergency officials said in a statement. It added that the soot particle levels represented a moderate impact on air quality comparable to that of a wildfire.